Let's Just Forget and Let's Just Proceed
by JoeyOlberding
Summary: Alm was gone, Mycen killed him. Why? We dont know. We all joined the Deliverance anyway, we thought that it would be better to run away from our problems than to continue living with them. Instead we found ourselves running into them again. We felt the pain of having to relive the memories of someone close to us. It hurt but we couldn't turn back now. Rated T for blood and language


"Hey, Kliff?' Tobin asked. Kliff and Tobin were sitting next to each other on a fence that was supposed to be used to help keep out raiders, but it really didn't help, eating their lunches.

Kliff sighs. "What, Tobin? Can't you see I'm trying to eat an orange?"

"Oh, yeah, right. You see, I forgot that you ate. At all." Tobin said, slightly annoyed.

"Is that your best Gray impression? If so, that's not bad. You really capture the annoyingness."

"W-well… At least I'm not stupid! Ha!" Tobin laughed.

Kliff shook his head.

"Hey guys, have you seen Alm?" Faye came up and asked, bright smile on her face.

"No idea." Tobin said.

"Well, he's probably out training with Mycen. You of all people should know how he never takes a break." Kliff said, being useful.

"Thanks! I'll tell Alm he should take a break. I really worry about him..." Faye said, happy as she quickly ran away.

"Dang… In all of her 18 years, has she been obsessed with Alm?" Tobin asked, looking back.

"I can't be sure, because I'm, like, the same age as her," Gray said, walking in and acknowledging everyone with a hand while still talking. "but I can be, like, 99% sure her first word was Alm."

"Honestly, while I'm not one for that sort of talk, I wouldn't be too shocked." Kliff commented.

"I mean, sure, Alm is obviously like a hero in the making, but come on. Her obsession is a little high on the creepy scale." Gray said, shaking his head.

"More than a little." Tobin replied.

Suddenly, a galloping horse could be heard from the woods.

"Hm? A visitor? Who could want to visit Ram Village?" Kliff asked to nobody in particular.

"Someone either stupid or desperate, I bet." Tobin replied, getting up from the fence, with Kliff following suit.

"Or both." Gray added, following the two.

Suddenly, a man with a cool lance and a nice haircut walked in through the trees, a ginger.

"Hello there. Is this place Ram Village?"

"The one and only." Kliff said, while Gray and Tobin were transfixed on the stranger's cool lance.

"Dude, that's one cool lance!" Gray said, slightly drooling at the mouth.

"Why, thank you. My name is Lukas. Do you happen to know a Sir Mycen who lives here?'

"O-oh, yeah. Why do you ask?" Tobin wondered aloud.

"Well, I fight for the Deliverance. Our group fights to take back Zophia and make peace in Valentia for all. It's truly terrible what happened to the kingdom."

"Wait wait wait wait, what do you mean by 'take back'? What is this 'horrible' thing that happened?" Gray asked, confused.

"Oh, well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but… I'm afraid King Lima has been killed by the Rigelians and they've taken over Zophia Castle." Lukas said, sadly.

"Oh, oka- _**WAIT WHAAAAAA**_ _ **T?!**_ " Tobin screamed.

"I'm so very sorry to bring you this terrible news. I deeply apologize."

"It's okay. I'm afraid our small village isn't great with the whole 'politics' thing." Kliff said.

"Yeah, we only learned about the reason Zophia and Rigel were separated in the first place when we were like, 10." Gray added, shaking his head.

"Well, anyways, I think it's a fair question to ask what you would want with Mycen." Kliff said, getting back on track.

"Why, it is very much a fair question. I would like to see Sir Mycen because he used to be a great general, and I want to see if he could aid us in our battle against the Rigelian Empire." Lukas said, smiling.

"In that case, yeah, he has a small cottage at the end of the village. I gotta warn you though... he's a bit of an old coot." Gray said, completely seriously.

"Uh, no? Remember, he saved us from that purple haired guy…?" Tobin said, confused.

"Haha. Well, either way, I think he can prove to be very useful if he does indeed want to join." Lukas said, happy.

All four of them then began walking towards the cottage where Mycen lived.

"Hey, uh, Lukas?" Gray asked.

"Hm? What is it, Gray?"

"Do you accept random new recruits like a loser like Kliff?"

Kliff, as his form of a reply, scoffed.

"W-well, yes we do. In fact, if the sound of being able to have to fight doesn't sound too appealing, hopefully the sound of gold does…." Lukas said, trying to get the attention thrown off of Kliff.

"Wait, GOLD? Like, in actual real life PHYSICAL gold?!" Tobin asked, eyes wide with amazement and dollar signs.

"Yes, we know that gold is a big reason many people fight, and there's no shame there. That's also how important this mission truly is. We truly need all the help we can possibly get." Lukas replied.

"I have family who could use that gold… Hm..."

"Well, guys, here we a- wait, what's that crowd doing around his cottage?" Gray said, as the four made their way into the crowd. Murmurs and whispers went to and from the crowd of men and women alike. There wasn't a good view at all. It seemed like everyone in the village was already here, looking at whatever had happened… here.

"I can't believe it..." One man remarked.

"Wait, what happened?"Tobin asked to the man.

"It's Mycen." He said, shaking his head.

"What about him…?" Lukas asked, oddly calm.

"Yeah, what happened? This is a big deal!" Gray said, almost threatening the poor guy.

"A-ah! Well, the girl up there is saying that Mycen killed a boy… I forget the name though..."

"What…?! Mycen would never kill anyone… Who could've he killed? And why?" Kliff said, surprised.

"Yes… This is very bad for the Deliverance if he did indeed kill a boy." Lukas said, not happy one bit.

"Move! I need to take a look at this!" Gray said, pushing past people of all shapes and sizes.

"Come on, Gray..." Tobin said, obviously disappointed.

"Uh, guys… You're gonna really want to see this..." Gray said, not very enthusiastically whatsoever.

"Oh man, Gray's not yelling it. It's a big deal." Kliff said, politely asking people to move so he and his companions could see what had Gray so… not happy.

Greeting the four when they were able to get past the crowd was a body. A dead one, with another one crying right over it.

"Alm! Come back!"

"F-faye…?! ... _ **A-Alm**_?! Oh no no no no no..." Tobin screamed.

An axe was right in Alm's chest. Faye was crying over him, tears landing on his face, warmth and blood, drying, fading.

"My my my… This is bad…."

Hours passed. Tension had not lifted. Faye was still crying. Mycen was still nowhere to be found. Alm was still dead. Kliff was still silent.

"Faye… Faye stop crying…! I-i… know this is a big deal for you… Please, Faye..." Tobin said, trying to comfort Faye in probably the scariest time of her life… And everyone else.

Still nothing. More crying.

Gray, also shocked almost into a state of silence, tried to comfort her, to no avail. "Kliff, do something…!"

Kliff said nothing, he was, in fact, walking away. Where was he going? Gray ran after him, as he headed to the other side of the village.

"Kliff! Wait up!"

"H-hey Lukas…?' Tobin asked.

"...Yes, Tobin? Wait, I know what you're going to say… Once again, I apologize for… Leading you into this whole mess. I… I don't even know where Mycen is… I'm really, truly sorry."

"No… No it's okay. That's not what I was going to ask. It's perfectly fine, actually. You're just trying to help the kingdom. There's nothing to be sorry about that, or anything else you want to feel bad for. I just… need one thing from you."

This caught Lukas by surprise. "Tobin… You're not like yourself… I see none of us truly are. I don't even know this Faye or any of these people surrounding us, but I can feel the sadness, the despair… This is exactly what the Deliverance doesn't want. As a proud member, and… Well, I would be happy to help no matter what."

"H-heh… Just try to help Faye, if you don't mind."

"O-oh! Why, I would be happy to help." Lukas said, smiling. This even lifted Tobin's spirits a good amount.

Lukas bent over and touched Faye lightly on the back.

"Hey… Though I can't say I know you well… I can tell you cared about this boy very much. I simply hope you can get better in some way."

This was almost magic, the fact that Faye stopped tearing up, stopped wailing, and instead looked at Lukas, who was smiling, almost saying that it was okay.

The others, however, were more amazed with the fact that she stopped so they could finally beg for information.

"Oh my… You! Girl! How did the boy die?!"

"Was it by the axe in his chest?!"

"Was it really the work of his mentor, Mycen?!"

"Was it for plot convenience?!"

Faye got up, dusted her skirt off, and wore a weary smile on her face.

"Thank you…. Alm meant so much to me, if you couldn't tell. I needed some time to cry."

"It's really quite fine. It is always alright to mourn a death. Nobody should be sorry for that." Lukas said.

"You! Girl! Answer us! How did the boy die?!" One person from the crowd yelled.

Faye sighed.

"Faye… Come on!" Tobin yelled from the crowd, trying to be supportive, but not really doing a good job.

"Well…. I saw Mycen do it! He killed Alm! I…. I'm sure of it! T...they were training and..." She stopped and began crying a bit again. It was clear this was a lot for her. Neither Tobin or Lukas said anything.

Faye started up again after a few seconds of more tears. "All of a sudden…. H-he came over Alm with an axe… And after he k...killed him he r-ran off…."

"Oh, Faye…. I'm truly sorry for what you saw." Lukas said, sad.

"Y-yeah… This is a bad day for Ram Village in general..."

"Kliff! Wait up!" Gray yelled, running towards a silent Kliff, who was walking towards the edge of the village.

Kliff was silent as Gray caught up to him.

"Hey Kliff… Why did you just walk off back there?"

Kliff didn't say anything as he sat on the ground and took another orange out of his pocket. Gray sat down too, not saying anything.

There was silence for a few minutes.

"….I was never really close to Alm, you know."

"That's not true." Gray replied.

"No, no. It's true. He's always cared about someone or something else that isn't us. Maybe you just didn't realize that yourself." Kliff said, looking straight into Gray's eyes.

"Kliff, you know very well that Alm cared about everyone around him! You aren't making any sense right now…!"

"Think about it, Gray. Even when we were younger it was Celica. Just today it would have been focusing on training, getting stronger."

"...So what's the point you're trying to make again?"

"...Why am I so sad? Why is this so… Tough? Why do I want to just leave Ram Village once and for all, and never come back? I don't get it..."

"Heh… I always knew that you would want to leave at some point, Kliff. I always thought you and Alm would travel together, maybe with me, too." Gray said, chuckling, for some odd reason.

"Life is crazy like that."

"Yeah."

Silence again. Few more good minutes of birds chirping in the orange trees and those same trees rustling in the wind.

"...Do you really think it was Mycen?" Kliff asked.

"Well, I can't say I knew the old coot well, but he saved us once, right? I don't know why he would want to kill Alm if he's been helping him grow all these years, unless I'm just crazy."

"That's why I asked. It seems so weird, and who even knows where he went off to."

More silence. More birds chirping. Wind picking up just a bit.

"Kliff, you said you wanted to leave Ram Village, right?"

"Hm? Yeah I did, but I'm not sure if I really can looking at how things stand with Alm and all..."

Gray just shook his head. "That's a bad mindset Kliff. I think you can leave the village, and for a better reason than just because of this… whole mess."

"I'm not going to war, Gray. I'd die immediately."

"Oh come on, Kliff. Think about it: You'll be stuck with a bunch of powerful men and women fighting for a noble cause, you can become an archer or something and just try to shoot one or two people and get PAID for it! That sounds great to me."

"Gray, please. Lukas only came to this worthless village for Mycen, and he went and killed Alm! He wouldn't want me as compensation for having to be in the middle of that."

"You are being really close minded about this, you know that? What if I came with you? Maybe get Tobin, too?"

"Tobin would never agree to that. You know him better than anyone else in this village, even his own siblings."

"I would still be fine traveling with you, and we have Lukas, and even if he's pretty much a stranger, we've already been through a good deal together." Gray said, smiling.

"...Why do you want to leave?"

"Well, I already said before, didn't I? I had always dreamed of going to places all over Valencia with you and Alm, and maybe Tobin. The Deliverance is just that chance for me to make that weird dream come true, even though I know that sounds pretty stupid, right?"

"And the fact you get paid?"

"Well, yeah. That's certainly a good incentive."

A few more moments of silence.

"What do you think, Kliff?"

"No matter what my decision is here, it's a big deal."

"Well, yeah."

More silence, it feels like forever.

"Actually, Kliff..."

"Gray, don't tell me you're getting cold feet?"

"No no no, nothing like that. I just was thinking about Faye."

"You know her. She's probably still grieving Alm."

"Faye's gonna want to get out of the village, too."

"I don't think I get it. Why would you want her to tag along with us?"

Gray thought about this for a moment. "The more the merrier."

"That's not always true, but in the end, at the least we have us two. These are other people you're talking about." Kliff said, shaking his head.

"Wait, us TWO? You're in?"

"Yeah. I mean, we're friends, right? If you're so willing to tag along with me of all people, I may as well join you. And, like you said, I get paid." Gray laughed at that.

"Well, Kliff old buddy, should we ask the others?"

"And most importantly, Lukas?"

"Oh yeah..."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate us wanting to join, right?"

"Yeah. If he doesn't, we'll go anyway!"

They got up and made their way towards Mycen's House with huge smiles on their faces.

"Wait, Gray, what did you just say?"

 **And so ends the first chapter of a new… thing! I got Shadows of Valencia pretty much as soon as it came out, and I enjoyed every last moment of it. The characters are great and I've played through it twice. I decided to add my own little spin to it, by killing off the main character. Yaaaaay….**

 **I think this will add a lot more room for character growth that isn't as present in the main game for characters like Faye or Kliff. Seeing how neither of them really had too much to build on in the main game, I hope this will help with that. Of course, killing off the main character is gonna lead to some emotional moments, but thats what introductions and first chapters are for, right?**

 **As always, I appreciate constructive criticism, story ideas, reviews, or stupid comments and I hope that you found this to be quite enjoyable. I know I had a blast writing Kliff and Gray's back and forth at the end. Stay tuned next time!**

 **\- Joey**


End file.
